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Built around a clear vision to help every employee thrive, the framework focuses on purposeful leadership behaviours and the competencies needed to lead with purpose.
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has long recognised that leadership is the foundation of a strong and sustainable organisation. As the business expands, the HR team recognised the importance of developing leaders who can inspire trust, foster collaboration, and embody a culture of empathy, growth, and care.
This led to the creation of the multi-tier 'Leadership Development Framework', designed to support individuals from their first step into management up to senior executive roles. Built around a clear vision to help every employee thrive, the framework focuses on purposeful leadership behaviours and the competencies needed to lead with purpose. It has since become a key pillar in strengthening STT GDC’s leadership bench as the organisation moves into its next phase of growth.
A core challenge along the way was ensuring the framework remained consistent yet flexible across different functions. The culture, engagement, learning and development (CELD) team addressed this by co-creating content with subject matter experts and piloting programmes such as the Leadership Essential Booster Programme (LEBP) and the Leadership Impact Programme (LIP). By adopting a collaborative and iterative approach, the programme became more relevant and gained stronger stakeholder ownership, transforming the initial challenge into a shared success.
At the HR Excellence Awards 2025, Singapore, ST Telemedia won the Bronze award for Excellence in Leadership Development. In this interview, we hear from Colin Khor, Director, Human Resources (Culture, Engagement, Learning & Development, and Talent Acquisition), ST Telemedia, on how this win was made possible, and the journey that the team undertook.
Q Tell us about your inspiring HR initiative – what sparked the idea, and how did you know it was the right path to take?
At ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), we recognise that strong leadership is the cornerstone of a thriving and sustainable organisation. As the company continues to grow and expand, we recognised the need to cultivate leaders who inspire trust, drive collaboration, and uphold our culture of empathy, growth, and care.
This inspired the development of our multi-tiered 'Leadership Development Framework', designed to support our leaders at every stage – from first-time managers to emerging leaders and senior executives. Anchored in a clear vision to continually develop our people, the initiative focuses on building the competencies, mindset, and confidence needed to lead with purpose. Aligned with our vision to foster a workplace where every individual can thrive, this initiative has become a catalyst for building a strong leadership bench – one capable of steering the organisation into our next phase of growth.
Q Every journey has its ups and downs – can you share a challenge your team faced and how you worked through it together?
One of the challenges we faced was balancing consistency and flexibility across the diverse functions in the organisation. With teams operating in varied cultural and business contexts, designing a unified leadership framework that remained relevant to all was no small feat.
To address this, our culture, engagement, learning & development (CELD) team partnered closely with subject matter experts to curate learning content that remained aligned with our core leadership principles. We also piloted programmes such as our 'Leadership Essential Booster Programme' (LEBP) for first-time managers and a 'Leadership Impact Programme' (LIP) for Directors and Senior Directors, engaging select cohorts to gather feedback and refine our programme along the way.
This collaborative and iterative approach not only strengthened the programme’s relevance but also deepened stakeholder ownership, transforming a challenge into an opportunity for shared success.
Q What impact has this initiative had on your organisation so far, and what do you hope it inspires in the wider HR community?
The impact has been both measurable and cultural. Our programmes have equipped managers and leaders with the tools to communicate effectively, coach meaningfully, and foster stronger team connections. Post-programme surveys and performance insights reflect improved collaboration and greater leadership confidence across all levels.
Beyond metrics, the most profound shift has been cultural. Leadership conversations have evolved from focusing solely on task management to also include people development. Today, our leaders are more intentional in coaching, offering feedback and creating space for continuous learning.
We hope our journey inspires other organisations to view leadership development not as a one-time intervention, but as an ongoing commitment to nurturing growth. When leaders grow, the organisation grows and the ripple effect of that growth extends far beyond business outcomes.
Q Looking back, is there a moment, person, or value that kept you and your team motivated throughout the journey?
Our team was guided by one core belief: growth through support and recognition. This principle, a key pillar of our employee value proposition, served as our north star throughout the journey.
Seeing participants evolve from tentative first-time managers into confident, people-centred leaders reaffirmed our purpose. Each success story, and every “lightbulb moment” shared during coaching circles or learning challenges reminded us why we do what we do.
We were also inspired by the unwavering support of our leadership, whose belief in developing talent from within and building a culture of empathy, care and growth gave us the confidence to keep moving forward.
Q If you could offer one golden nugget of wisdom to HR professionals aiming for excellence, what would it be?
Stay deeply connected to your people and design with empathy.
The most impactful HR initiatives are not always the largest in scale, but the most human in intent.
At STT GDC, our experience has shown that sustainable leadership development begins with understanding our employees’ aspirations, challenges, and potential. From there, we co-create programmes that help them thrive. When leaders feel seen, supported, and trusted, they lead with conviction – and that conviction cascades through teams, shaping culture from inside out.
In essence, success in HR is about cultivating environments where people and performance grow hand in hand. Where culture is not just spoken but lived every day. And where every initiative, no matter how small, is rooted in the belief that people are at heart of progress.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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